TORONTO -- The spectre of photo radar returned to haunt Ontario motorists yesterday as the province's cash-strapped government considered reviving the controversial measure to help shrink a $5.6-billion deficit. Premier Dalton McGuinty said it was one of several ideas for generating revenue and cutting costs that are up for discussion.
The ideas are being discussed at a two-day cabinet meeting that got underway yesterday.
"I've long been a supporter of photo radar . . . (and) we're going to talk about that," McGuinty said on his way into the meeting.
"It's a revenue generator, absolutely."
Photo radar was first introduced in Ontario in 1994 under Bob Rae's NDP government, but was one of the first things to go when Mike Harris and his Conservatives were elected the following year. It featured high-tech cameras mounted in unmarked police vans, which sat parked by the side of the highway, snapping licence-plate photos of those vehicles that exceeded the speed limit.
Regardless of who was at the wheel, the car's owner would get a copy of the photo in the mail, along with a hefty fine.
The Canadian Automobile Association said yesterday photo radar is nothing but a "tax grab" that does nothing to slow speeding drivers.
"This is a tax on motorists," said spokesperson Mark Arsenault.
While a marked police cruiser on the side of the road does slow traffic, drivers won't be deterred by receiving a ticket in the mail weeks after speeding past an unmarked photo radar van, Arsenault said.
"The only way that this is going to save lives and improve traffic safety is if there's a deterrent involved. Photo radar doesn't provide that."
Since they were elected in October, McGuinty's Liberals have been frantically casting about for ways to trim the provincial deficit, estimated to be more than $5.6 billion.
Consumer and Business Services Minister Jim Watson said officials in his ministry are reviewing nearly 300 fees for "everything from birth certificates to marriage licences to various business permits" in order to generate more money. "I very much come from a user-pay philosophy," Watson said. "I've asked my staff to determine what the real cost is (and) what we're charging."
Photo radar remains in place in other Canadian provinces, including Alberta and Manitoba. In British Columbia, Gordon Campbell's Liberals scrapped the measure in 2001.
Ontario's opposition Tories and New Democrats both seized on the issue yesterday, accusing the Liberals of misleading voters during last fall's election campaign by failing to mention photo radar, toll roads or higher user fees.
"The premier's done a complete reversal on photo radar," said NDP house leader Peter Kormos. "He wasn't a fan of it 12 years ago. All of a sudden, now McGuinty embraces photo radar."
Conservative critic Garfield Dunlop accused McGuinty of saying anything to voters in order to get elected.
